SD Card Can't Keep Up With D3100

ZekeMenuar

New member
I was out trying to catch a bumblebee doing it's thing. I had the 55-200 DX AF-S VR lens on the camera.
Switched to the three frames per second and the camera kept stalling while it caught up with the SD card.

The current card is a PNY Professional with a rating of 20 mb per second.

Assuming I have all the image settings maxed out, JPEG Fine and Large 14.2 mp.
How fast of a card do I need to keep up with the camera?

Thanks
 
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pedroj

Senior Member
I'm not sure if this helps...I have a D300 and am able to shoot 6 frames per sec [fine & raw] with a 30 MB CF card...

I would not be able to do a couple of bursts simultaneously as it is still copying to the card a few seconds after...

You might find what your after in your manual or maybe Google or you tube it....
 

ZekeMenuar

New member
I'm not sure if this helps...I have a D300 and am able to shoot 6 frames per sec [fine & raw] with a 30 MB CF card...

I would not be able to do a couple of bursts simultaneously as it is still copying to the card a few seconds after...

You might find what your after in your manual or maybe Google or you tube it....

Your post made me think for a minute.

I tried it again paying more attention to what the camera is doing.
If I focus on one subject and let er' rip the camera keeps up just fine.
If the camera is on burst mode and auto-focusing at the same time, it will pause to lock on to the subject and then start-up again.
So if the camera has to auto focus at three frames a second and write to the card, it makes sense that it might hiccup once in a while.

Sounds like a plausible explanation to me. If it isn't plausible I'm sure I'll hear about it.
 

pedroj

Senior Member
I have an old D50 [6.1 MPs] that I shot Surfing with. I think it shoots at 3.5 frames per sec and it didn't have any problems with stalling...I'm not sure what the 20 MB is...Is it the speed it uploads at or downloads...I would probably buy a faster card as the SDs are not all that expensive...
 

Marcel

Happily retired
Staff member
Super Mod
Are you sure it's just the card? What is your focus setting? If the camera wants to refocus between burst if you have set the focus priority and are using continuous focus, this could slow you down too. These cameras are NOT super high speed you know. It's just not like if you were filming and then selecting one frame to do your shot. But I think you can do this with the new D4...
 

ZekeMenuar

New member
Are you sure it's just the card?
Well no. That's the first thing that popped up in my mind. It could certainly be something else like pilot error.

What is your focus setting? .
AF Area Mode is set to Auto Area AF.
AF Assist is on.
Metering is Matrix

These cameras are NOT super high speed you know.
Yes I know. I don't recall having this issue last year during spring bug season and I was using the same lens. I'm not brave enough to shoot bees with the 18-55 lens.

FWIW I normally shoot JPEG Fine and 14.2 MP. I only shoot raw when I hit the mountains or the coast. I'm savings all those images for the time when I can afford some decent post processing software.

Thanks
 
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jdeg

^ broke something
Staff member
You shouldn't have a problem with speed with a 20mb/s card. The limitation is more on the buffer size of the camera. Once the buffer fills the camera will not be able to take any more continuous shots until the pics are written to the card.
 

ZekeMenuar

New member
You shouldn't have a problem with speed with a 20mb/s card. The limitation is more on the buffer size of the camera. Once the buffer fills the camera will not be able to take any more continuous shots until the pics are written to the card.

Yes. Eventually the buffer will fill up.

I switched to AF-C. Now it takes a lot longer to fill the buffer.

So it wasn't the card. It was the photographer.
I guess you learn something new every day.

Thanks for the replies.
 

SteveH

Senior Member
I have been thinking along the same lines recently, after I used continuous mode on my 3100... The current class 10 card does Ok, but after 2-3 seconds it starts to slow down. Shooting in RAW, my average file sizes are around 20Mb, so at full speed the SD card would need to be able to write 3 x 20Mb per second. 60Mb/Sec cards are available, but a lot more expensive!
 

ZekeMenuar

New member
I have been thinking along the same lines recently, after I used continuous mode on my 3100... The current class 10 card does Ok, but after 2-3 seconds it starts to slow down. Shooting in RAW, my average file sizes are around 20Mb, so at full speed the SD card would need to be able to write 3 x 20Mb per second. 60Mb/Sec cards are available, but a lot more expensive!

I don't shoot much RAW. Only when I go on a trip to shoot waterfalls or something like that. I have no post processing software.
I'm saving the real good images for when I decide to get PP software. For now it's straight out of the camera. Old habit from my film days.
JPEG fine is more than enough for my day to day shooting.

After changing the AF setting I can shoot for several seconds before the buffer fills up. More than enough to catch bumblebees.
The AF-C works with my 55-300mm lens very well. It's not a slowpoke lens anymore.
 
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§am

Senior Member
The other thing to check is the actual write speed of the card - some advertise a 20mb speed, but that might only refer to the read speed - the write speed is always lower!

Steveh0773 - Amazon recently had 32GB Class 10 SanDisk Extreme cards for £~27 (45mb read) which are worth the investment.

Shame the D3100 doesn't support UHS-1, which specify a minimum 45mb write speed :)
 

patrick in memphis

Senior Member
it is the sd card ..lol you need a class 6 card or better and yes some cards are defective from the factory i run a class 6 8gb card and can take as many pics as i want with no delay.the d3100 puts the pics in buffer. buffr can hold 100 pics before writing to card if it has to . my sister ha had the same prob with her camera. i put in my card and voila it was fixed.....
 

RookieDSLR

Senior Member
I had to upgrade to a Promaster Class 10 Pro(24/Mbs) card to keep up with my D5100. I have it set on autofocus and the burst setting and it gets the pics and writes them extremely fast to where I can do another burst literally a few seconds later. I am not sure though if I have my settings different from yours or if there is a major difference from my D5100. That is my two scents.

Jeremy V.
 

fotojack

Senior Member
There are 3 memory cards I use exclusively in both my cameras; Lexar, Kingston and Sandisk. These have proven to be the most reliable cards I have ever used. One thing to remember.........use a Class 6 or higher! I use 6's in my D40 and Class 10's in my D200. I also never use anything higher than an 8GB card.........mostly 4GB. Larger cards tend to corrupt easier or faster for some reason. I'd rather lose a 4 or 8 GB card than an expensive 16 or 32GB card!
Also, for some reason beyond my comprehension, a lot of people don't reformat their cards in camera after they download their pics to their computer. ALWAYS format your cards before you use them!
These are solely my opinions and do not reflect in any way on Nikon News - Nikonites - Nikon Community & Forum :)
 
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